On Wednesday, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk said on a conference call with analysts to discuss Tesla’s first quarter results, that California is now also competing for the giant Gigafactory.

“California is potentially back in the running. It’s still improbable, but it is back in the running and the Governor and his staff have really done everything they can to make California a significant location for the Gigafactory,” he said.

Many were expecting Musk to announce a location for the factory. New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and Texas have been competing for the Gigafactory, which is a giant battery factory that could employ as many as 6,500 people.

Musk said that the company is more concerned about the speed of building the factory, not economic incentives, and that California is doing what it can to speed up the process.

“It’s the time to completion for the Gigafactory,” Musk said.

Musk also said the company intends to break ground next month on one potential site, “Which is quite soon, and then a month or two after, we’ll break ground on the second one,” he said.

He did not mention New Mexico.

“For us, its really critical for us to have the Gigafactory up and running on time,” said company CFO, Deepak Ahuja.

Musk also announced that the company has signed an agreement with Panasonic to be its partner in the Gigafactory and on battery production.

“We actually do have a letter of intent signed with Panasonic. We’re happy to announce that,” Musk said. “For us, that’s not that big of a deal. Our expectation has been that Panasonic will be the partner with the Gigafactory.”

In 2007 Tesla said it would build its first can factory here in New Mexico, but the company at the last second said that it would instead build the factory in Fremont, California. At the time, California was able to offer Tesla a shuttered Toyota plant and $100 million in financing.